~ Monika's World : Some memories I am trying to treasure in a busy life

Tag Archives: blogadda

I am a driving fanatic is no news to the regular reader of the blog and most regular readers know would know that husband is an automobile fanatic too. So when there was an opportunity from Blogadda to review the new Tata Indica Vista D90 I lapped it up really quick 🙂

The car was allotted to me for 3 days so that I can experience it fully, I thought it was a wonderful initiative by Tata Motors and Blogadda. When the car arrived last Saturday to my house, I was out and as soon as I came home I took it for a drive braving the Saturday evening traffic. The first thing that strikes you is the space in the car which is excellent considering it’s a small car, especially in the back seat where my really tall friend V felt comfortable too and pointed out the same thing.

The car has a fabulous suspension which feels rock solid on road and makes the ride very comfortable, the horrible speed breakers in the city don’t really break your back and that to me is a huge plus considering how Bangalore is full of those ugly ones. Also what we liked about the car was the handling and the driving comfort which is basically a result of the brilliant suspension and a refined engine, the combination makes the car a pleasure to drive.

The car has a decent music system which though gave me a little crack here and there when we were tuned into the radio but the sound quality when playing a CD is pretty decent. It also has the feature where you can connect your mobile phone to it and use it as an integrated system, we tried it with all three phones we had, iPhone, Samsung Galaxy SIII and Nokia and it worked seamlessly with all of them. It certainly is a feature that will aid one’s city driving considering the pace of life we lead these days.

The plastic quality and finish and the general interiors of the car are a big improvement on the usual tata ones, much better than before. It also has a driver information system which tells you – the average of the car, kilometers that the car will run before the next refuel (which for people like me is a big plus, I am always running to the petrol bunk when its almost at the end of its reserve, because I keep forgetting, the reminder in your face I am sure will be useful) apart from the time and the temperature.

The think that I didn’t like much in the car was the fact the gear box could have been smoother, it is jerky and the gear shift is not really as smooth as it should be. Also on the ratting is noticeable when you are on high speeds. The other thing that I thought was the sluggishness of the car till it reaches 2400 rpm. So when you start the car and till you reach 2400rpm it feels really sluggish and as a result you need to down your gears pretty often to be able to keep up your speed and pace. However once you reach 2400rpm the pick is fabulous and it reaches 4000rpm like a breeze. Peaks out at 4500rpm and between the 2400rpm and 4500rpm it almost drives like a petrol car.

Truly we had pleasure driving the car around for 3 days and at the end of it when they came to pick up the car they did a small video shoot which made me so embarrassed, I have told them to share it with me when its ready and I will share it here when I get it. Till then some final words on the car by the driving crazy family

N says

“It was a pleasure to drive, I think with Vista D90 Tata has finally got the small car right and a car which is capable of giving Maruti Swift a run for its money”

Me

“A small car which is ideal for the city drive with its driver information system, integrated phone support, an ideal car for the busy lives we lead these days”

And O says (yes when we are both saying something, how can he be left behind)

“Looks good, like the speed which it goes after 2000rpm, I like the speed”

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Like this:

BlogAdda has started an amazing intiative called BSR (Blogger Social Responsibility), all one has to do is to pick up a NGO from the long list they have a blog about it, what they are hoping to achieve from this is to spread the word about the NGO and I think its great. So for today I leave you with the NGO Help a child to study. According me right to education is really really important

Activity: Help A Child to Study sponsors the higher education of meritorious underprivileged students, supporting them to achieve dreams of a better future. We sponsor all formal courses above 10th, including 11th and 12th, diploma courses, degree courses, B.E., M.B.B.S. and Postgrad. Through education our students are able to escape the cycle of poverty through their own talents.

Details: We are very proud of our students – who are the children of labourers, small scale farmers, weavers and other families with low incomes. These students have enormous potential to succeed and only need financial support to do so. We are thrilled that today some of our graduates are placed with large companies such as Mahindra Tech, L&T, and TATA Consultancy Services.

Support: Education, higher education, sponsorship of students.

Note: We are looking for financial donations to support the higher education of our students, most of whom live in rural areas of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

And asking for my permission for the same. I immediately sent out a mail to him saying I am ok with it not an issue at all and forgot all about it till Saturday when I got a mail with the following

The college was also kind enough to send me two copies of the magazine which I enjoyed reading

And in spite of the fact that it was such an old post which I have read it like million times myself and which is still one of the most read posts of this blog I felt damn nice to see it in print I tell u… damn nice 😀

Yeah I did it again… slipped from the stairs twisted my ankle and all done 😦 and this was the ankle on which I got fracture some years back so currently I am all bandaged restricted to my bed and laptop 😉

I have really lost the track of number of times I have had sprains, twisted ankles etc etc… I think my mom is right I need to learn how to walk 🙂

Apart from that life has been busy, because of Ojas’s school we have decided to move houses and take one near his school and God must like me because I have found one some 600m from his school after a week of mad running…. the house is good, just as I wanted in a complex with security and basic amenities and is a duplex house so I still have my privacy which was a major point as I have in laws living with me

And now starts the mammoth task of putting my own house on rent… and even bigger task of moving itself, the packing and the unpacking and the setting, my BP is so high with tension that you can’t even imagine right now and I think I am driving everyone around me mad too 😉 but whats gotta be done gotta be done… Owing to all this I might not be able to reply comments and blog hop as much as I would want to, please bear with me for a couple of weeks and I will be back in action full force… will try and login now and then and keep updating whats happening at my end and I do have some posts scheduled too, so u guys wont miss me much atleast as far as posts are concerned 😉

Apart from that I think most of you know that I am judging the blogadda contest the madness one and I tell u when Harish sent me a mail asking whether I would be a judge, it felt so nice… 😀 😀 😀 but what a task it, never imagined it would be so tough…. The results have to out tmrw and I am still confused 😉 hopefully should be able to decide very soon

3:00 am – a girl quietly gets up so that she doesnt disturb anyone, steps into the bathroom for a early morning shower. Gets ready, does her morning Sehri, reads namaz and sleeps again

Scene 2:

6:30 am – another girl gets up, takes bath so that she is fresh to please her Gods, quitely sips her morning cup of tea and gets busy in cooking the various sweets, makes a flower rangoli in the entrance of the house, decorates the place where her friend Ganesha will reside for next 3 days.

Scene 3:

7:30 am – another lady gets ready with a lovely saree and flowers in her head and does her sunday round of the Church, lights a candle and brings one home.

9:00 am – the first, second and the whole family along with the third girl do the pooja for Ganapati. The candle that the third lady brought is also lighted in the pooja room.

The first girl and third lady are my live-in help and house maid respectively and yes the second girl is me.

My live in is a person who keeps fasts during Ramdan though she is a hindu by birth and she broke her Roja in the evening by the Ganpati Pooja prasad.

I cant tell you how proud I was of my household yesterday. It seemed to be my wish for India coming true, if only this whole thing could prevail all over. Why cant we have all the religions existing everywhere together.

Yes I did have problems in this intially, when my maid told us that she wants to keep roja, my mother-in-law did not take to it well but me and N sat with her and reasoned that what is the problem? Just because you have someone of another religion in you house does that make your own belief less stronger and till ones own belief is strong enough I dont think it matters what is happening, God is within oneself after all.

Then came a point where she was like ok she can keep the fast but she will not do namaz here and she will not enter the pooja room and this is a point where I gave me, no hypocrisy in my house. Either she stays here be normals as she is.. or we just let her go and after lots of debate and convincing my mil let her do keep the fast and I respect her for this. Its really difficult for the people from that generation to accept and I am glad an proud that she did.

So it was a sunday for all religions in the house hold and yes I made the visit to the Gurudwara to mark the last end of the sqaure.

It might sound cliche but “hindu muslim sikh issai indeed bhai bhai”

Amem!!

PS: thanks for all those heart warming comments in the previous post, that post is the next I promise

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